A Terrific Tube Preamplifier From Korea, And A - Ultra High Fidelity ...

I remember when Israel Blume of Coincident Audio Technology
made only speakers, and with limited high end pretensions. Not
anymore. Not only have the speakers soared in sophistication, but
he offers the possibility of an all-Coincident system.
Check the amplifier at right. But is it an amplifier? In fact it’s
the Statement line stage preamplifier, featuring a pair of unusual
101D direct-heated triodes, transformer-coupled volume controls
and balanced inputs and outputs. The price is $4999. The sound
in the Coincident room? First class.
Not shown here is the much less expensive Antique Sound Lab
AQ 1001 Mk II, with KT-88 output tubes. You possibly know
that ASL is a Chinese company, but its products are made
to the specs of its North American distributor, Divergent
Technology. It seemed absurdly affordable by the
standards of most of what I had heard, at $1950,
and it was producing exceptional sound. True,
it was accompanied by pretty good (and more
expensive) gear: a pair of Reference 3a Episode
speakers (they were on the cover of UHF No. 88),
and an emmLabs SACD player.
But I admit to a passion for dramatically-styled
gear, including tube gear, which is why I enjoyed
t h e Lars Type 1 amplifier (at left)
from Sweden’s Engström & Engström
(Lars Engström is one of the two founders). There’s
something special about its mix of fine wood and glass, which enhances
the warmth of the glowing 300B and 6V6 tubes. Even the rectifiers are tubes: a pair of
GZ34’s. There’s no attempt to overwhelm you with horsepower: the Type 1 puts out
20 watts per channel, and even so that’s at 1% harmonic distortion. You might, however,
be overwhelmed by the price: $36,000. I should add, however, that with a Holm CD
player and preamplifier from Denmark and a pair of Marten speakers, the sound was
in line with the looks: warm and lovely.
But I spent some time with an amplifier that makes the E&E sound like a bargain:
Yes, it’s interactive
Just click on the ad on the next page, and you know what will happen?
You’ll go right to the advertiser’s Web site…if there is one, and of course
if you are connected to the Internet at that moment.
Try it with any of the other ads in this issue.
Of course it works with the full (paid) electronic issue as well.
the VAC Statement 440, at bottom right. By the way, though it may look as though its
chassis is being reflected in a very shiny panel, in fact the chassis itself is double, with
a soft suspension between top and bottom.
Why? Well, anything can be microphonic, meaning that vibration can make it either
produce sound or modulate sound. The bottom chassis is the power supply. Kevin Hayes
says that with the Statement
440 (since bumped up to
450), he intended to make the
best possible amplifier regardless
of price. Numbers? Power is 450
watts per channel, with a price of
$72,000. Nice, but you’d expect that.
More affordable is another two-chassis unit, the Rogue Audio
Hera II (at left), which is a preamp, not an amp.
Its price tag of nearly $8000
is way beyond
what Rogue has
accustomed us
to, but it was at
the heart of the
best- sou nd i ng
Rogue system I
have yet heard. Lend
an ear.
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 21
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